State’s jobless claims fall by 9,868
Florida’s first-time unemployment claims took another sharp decline for the week ended Nov. 14, falling by 9,868 to 21,538 in yet another pandemic low.
But nationally, the weekly figure was 742,000, an increase of 31,000 from the previous week’s revised level, a sign that analysts say is a major reason for concern.
The disparity between Florida and the U.S. was partially driven by a spike in claims in Louisiana, which has been hit hard by storms and the coronavirus. The state, which had to borrow money to replenish its unemployment insurance trust fund, saw an increase of
more than 32,000 filings. No other state that reported an increase was even close to that figure for the week.
“The headline here is concerning, with an increase ... in the number of new claims in the traditional programs administered by states,” Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate, said of the national figures.
He said that when combined with an increase in claims filed for a federally funded program by out-ofwork independent contractors, the actual increase for the week “puts us at more than a million new claims.”
As the state’s economy hit a fourth-quarter mid-point, the job market appears to be a mixed bag of extended furloughs in the transportation, hospitality and leisure industries, according to recent layoff notification filed with the state. Meanwhile, a number of new retail and restaurant operations opened their doors around the South Florida region.
On Friday, the state Department of Economic Opportunity will disclose Florida’s unemployment rate for October along with an industry breakdown of job gains and losses. For the month of September, the state’s unemployment rate was 7.6%.
While Florida’s initial unemployment claims continue to decline, analysts point out that 12 million workers nationally are nearing a financial cliff as two key federally funded programs approach their Dec. 26 expiration dates.
The payments are from the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program for those whose state benefits were exhausted, and the Pandemic Unemployment
Compensation program for independent contractors who were never eligible for state benefits. The programs are separate from the $600 a week supplemental benefit that expired at the end of July.
In Florida, a Department of Economic Opportunity dashboard shows 693,672 people have received PEUC benefits while 609,205 people have received federal payments under the program for independent contractors. Although the funding is provided by Washington, the programs are administered by the states.
“This cutoff threatens to pull the rug out from under an economy that has already seen millions of workers lose their state unemployment benefits this fall,” said a report published this week by the Century Foundation, a New York-based public policy research group.
In the report, unemployment researchers Andrew Stettner and Elizabeth Pancotti analyzed the impact on workers who have been reliant on federally funded programs under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act passed by Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump in late March.
“Most workers began collecting state unemployment benefits in March or April, and since these benefits typically max out at 26 weeks, these workers’ benefits are already coming to an end,” the Century Foundation report said. “Three million workers already ran out of state jobless benefits in September, and based on these trends, more than 4 million more workers likely ran out by the end of October.”
Florida’s state benefits max out at a national low 12 weeks, which makes the plight of unemployed workers even worse than those in other states.
The problem now is that Congress has been unable to agree on a revival or creation of any relief programs past the end of this calendar year.
“As the pandemic reces
sion grinds on, Black workers and communities of color are at particularly high risk,” the report added. “While white workers were laid off at higher numbers than usual at the start of the pandemic, the share of unemployment insurance claimants who were Black soared by 40 percent from April to September — just as the benefits began to be cut off.
“The consequences of the cutoff of benefits at the end of December will be severe.”
As of Tuesday, the state had distributed nearly $18.6 billion in state and federal benefits to more than 2.1 million people since mid-March.
“For those who have been fortunate to remain employed, it is advised they continue to focus on the best practices for personal finances pertaining to both good times and bad,” Hamrick said. “That includes paying down debt, having a budget and sticking to it and saving for emergencies and retirement.”